TORONTO — The messy winter weather causing flight delays and cancellations across large swaths of Canada and the U.S. is like a lump of coal in the travel industry’s stocking, but at least one frequent flyer will be getting off the ground: Santa Claus.

Canada’s Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, says he’s cleared Santa and his reindeer flight crew for take-off in Canadian airspace.

Minister Alghabra said that in a secure message earlier this week, Santa confirmed that he completed his final test flight of the year and checked that he and the reindeer showed no signs of COVID-19 symptoms before take-off.

Earlier this month, Transport Canada Safety Inspectors cleared Santa’s sleigh for travel. “The Inspectors conducted their stringent safety, communications, and navigations checks, and made sure to test the landing gear. The reindeer even let Safety Inspectors check their harnesses to ensure they were secure for the journey ahead,” according to a statement.

Says Minister Alghabra: “I’m honoured to clear Santa and his reindeer flight crew for travel in Canadian skies this year. When I spoke to Santa, he assured me that everything was ready to deliver gifts to Canadian children. I’d like to wish all Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast a merry Christmas and festive holiday season.”

Santa and his reindeer can be tracked on the NORAD Tracks Santa website, and on Twitter following the #NoradTracksSanta hashtag.